Far From Folsom closes; new bar to open, at least temporarily

Owner Joe Lohmeier says he will be back

The owner of Far From Folsom, at 214 S. Montezuma St. has not sold the place.

Not exactly, anyway.

He’s no longer in business and there will be a new name on the sign.

But Joe Lohmeier is hanging onto the name, Far From Folsom, and the building, which he will lease to the owners of a bar in Kingman.

About all he actually sold on Monday, May 3, was the series 6 liquor license.

What happened?

Joe Lohmeier with his parents when Far From Folsom opened in 2016. He said the fact that he’d dedicated the venue to them makes it even more bittersweet that he’s closed up, at least temporarily. (Courtesy)

Lohmeier bought the establishment, which was previously known as Brick and Bones, in 2016. He envisioned Far From Folsom as a mash-up of two popular venues: one was a Johnny Cash tribute bar in Austin, Texas, called the Mean-Eyed Cat, and the other is a popular indoor/outdoor live-music venue in Nashville, Tennessee, called The Listening Room Café.

And for a while, he pulled it off. But then life got in the way.

His day job requires frequent travel, and “it was hard to (run the business) remotely,” he said. “I was traveling, I was in California, I was in Utah … and you really have to be there as an owner-operator to be successful.”

He decided to lease the building, and hang onto the name, which he said he will “probably” assign to a section of a bar he owns on the beach in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, named Banditos. That bar has a local manager, who could run both, he said.

“I’m keeping the brand,” he said, “Just moving Folsom to a to be determined location while we evaluate what we’re going to do.”

The building’s been leased to the owners of Rickety Cricket Brewing in Kingman. They did not return phone messages seeking comment.

Lohmeier’s likely to bring the concept back to Prescott when he retires in three years.

“I thought the best thing to do was put it on hold,” he said. “It’s a little bittersweet to box it all up and put it into purgatory state for a few years.”

Assuming he does return to Prescott, he said, he will look for a new location.

“I’ll probably be purchasing a venue that’s got more land, where I can do bigger concerts,” he said, but “it’ll feel like the hometown Prescott Folsom it was.”